^ Bishop A. F. W. Ingram, A Mission of the Spirit, 192.
ST. JOHN XIV. 15-17 145
sympathy which enervates and a sympathy which braces, a love which weakens and a love which inspires. In our Lord's promise of the Comforter it is Divine sympathy and love of the latter kind that are suggested.
^ Did not the Apostle pray on behalf of his Ephesian friends that they might be strengthened with might by God's Spirit in the inner man ? Did not our Lord give His disciples to expect that they should " be endued with power from on high " ? Did He not associate this expectation with the promise of the Spirit ? I think we may feel the idea of this strengthening to be an ingredient in the meaning of the word comfort as employed in the New Testa- ment ; as, for instance, when we are told that the Church in Judaea, Galilee, Samaria, had rest, and, " walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied." And I should say this element of strengthening entered more or less into the meaning intended to be conveyed by the word comfort or Comforter in various places in our Prayer-Book : in the prayer at Confirmation, "Strengthen them . . . with the Holy Ghost the Comforter," and in the invitation, " Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort." In truest comfort, in God- given comfort — and of this the New Testament speaks — there is ^ower ; it may prove to be an essential element or condition of real power,^
^ Just over a century ago Robert Morrison set sail for China ; it seemed a quixotic business. " Do you think," said the captain of the ship in which he sailed, " that you are going to convert China ? " " No," replied Morrison, " but I believe that God will." 2
ii. The Spirit of Truth.
1. Three times in these verses is the Spirit called the Spirit of truth. And, in the original, each time the title occurs, it is the Spirit of the truth. This must be taken to mean the truth which is in Jesus, the truth which is Christ Himself, which was incarnate in Him. For shortly before giving forth this promise of the Spirit He had proclaimed Himself to be " the way, and the truth, and the life." "I am . . . the truth : " " the Spirit is the truth." " He shall [both] teach you all things, and [more especially] bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you." " He shall bear witness of me" " He shall guide you into
^ J. W. Bishop, Tlw Christian Year and the Christian Life, 247. 2 J. D. Jones, Things Most Surely Believed, 141. ST. JOHN (2) — 10
146 THE GIVING OF THE COMFORTER
all the truth." " He shall glorify me : for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you." The Spirit for whose coming, for whose replenishing or baptism, foretold by the Baptist, the disciples would have still a little while to wait, would make clear to them something of the meaning of Jesus' earthly life, and of His teaching concerning God and man and duty, so that they might make it clear to others.
He is the " Spirit of truth," not as if He brought new truth. To suppose that He does so, opens the door to all manner of fanaticism ; but the truth, the revelation of which is all summed and finished in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, is the weapon by which the Divine Spirit works all His conquests, the staff on which He makes us lean and be strong. He is the Spirit by whom the truth passes into our personal possession, by no mere imperfect form of outward teaching, which is always con- fused and insufficient, but by the inward teaching that deals with our hearts and our spirits.
^ The method used by the Spirit of truth is not driving or forcing, but " leading," " guiding," by winning ways and by per- sistently pointing to the truth and commendingly interpreting it. When we gaze upon a picture we may for ourselves see much that is beautiful and attractive in its mode of exhibiting colour, form, and expression. But to understand the inner meaning of the picture and appreciate its main purpose and idea, we may need some skilled interpreter to open our eyes to its most vital and inherent excellencies. The Holy Spirit is such a guide to the Saviour and such an interpreter and revealer of the true grace and glory of Jesus Christ in His purpose and mission into this world.^
2. Christ is the Truth. The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, is the Spirit of truth. He is the Spirit of truth in two ways. He is communicated from Jesus, who is the Truth, and He is the living power of the Triune Energy, by which Jesus Himself is the Truth. In Him the Son of God is begotten eternally as the Image of the Father. By Him the Son of God was conceived in the womb according to the fulness of the Divine purpose. The truth of Christ's Godhead in the unity of the Holy Ghost necessitated the truth of His Manhood assumed by the power of the Holy Ghost.